Every Day Is Thanksgiving Day

by Roger Cawthon

Many have called former New
York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
“America’s Mayor”
for his courageous leadership on 9/11
and throughout the terrible days that
followed. I’ll never forget the photographs
of the mayor striding confidently
through the rubble that had been the
World Trade Center towers, comforting
the injured and terrified, thanking the
firefighters, police officers, and aid
workers. When he put his arms around
those who had lost loved ones on that
most awful of days, his compassionate
touch reached out to every American
and reminded us that we were all in this
together and that there were people in
charge who would work hard to make
things right again.

I recently had the opportunity to hear
Mr. Giuliani speak. I expected he would
talk about 9/11, terrorism, and how we
must find new and better ways to fight
the epidemic of hatred and violence
that threaten our world.

I’m sure he mentioned those things,
but I don’t remember much of what
he said about them. I don’t remember
much about those words because there
were others that meant so much more
to me personally, words that hit me like
the proverbial ton of bricks that day
and will resonate within me for the rest
of my life.

He said that his battle with prostate
cancer had been a blessing because
hearing the diagnosis gave him the opportunity
to go home and hug his loved
ones, to tell them how much he loved
them and how thankful he was to have
them in his life.

Giving thanks should not be reserved for one day of
the year, but should be something we do every day.

Roger and his wife, Kathy

The victims of 9/11, he pointed out,
never had that chance. Three thousand
people got up on a beautiful, clear September
morning and left their homes
to go to work or board airplanes or run
errands, ordinary outings for most on
what was to be a most extraordinary
day, ordinary outings from which they
would never return. How many of them,
we wonder, had unfinished personal
business? How many walked out the
door without speaking to the husband
or wife they had argued with the night
before? How many left a crying child
reaching out for one more hug? How
many hadn’t spoken to a family member
or friend for weeks, months, years
because of some disagreement that had
been allowed to smolder?

He was thankful for his diagnosis
of cancer, said Giuliani, because it gave
him a chance to be more thankful every
single day. It reminded him to savor
the many blessings in his life and to
love his loved ones harder and more
deeply than ever before.

Like Rudy Giuliani and more than
12 million other Americans, I will never
forget hearing the words, “You have
cancer.” My life, as I knew it, ceased to
exist, and was instantly replaced with
one filled with confusion and terror.

After the initial shock, however,
the awful diagnosis began to work
a strange kind of transformational
magic. It reminded me on a daily basis
– then and in all the days that have
followed – that I have much to be
thankful for. I am blessed to love and
to be loved. And I am alive, at least for
today. That is, quite simply, enough.

So why did I find Mr. Giuliani’s message
so surprising the day I heard him
speak? I think it was because I had
thought a man like him – famous, powerful,
wealthy – wouldn’t have much in
common with an ordinary guy like me.
When he finished speaking, however,
I understood the same connection and
felt the same measure of comfort he had
shared with America on its most terrible
of days. He had shown me – and the
several thousand others who heard him
speak that day – that we are all the same.

Even though on some level I had
always known that cancer does not care
how famous or powerful or rich you
are or aren’t, now I really understood
– whether it’s a terrorist attack or a
diagnosis of cancer or any other rock-your-world trauma – we are all in this
life together. We have each other – family,
friends, and community – both local
and global. Those blessings are enough,
and giving thanks for them should not
be reserved for one day of the year, but
should be something we do every day.

Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Mayor.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Roger Cawthon and his wife,
Kathy, both cancer survivors, are the founders
of The Cancer Crusade, an organization
dedicated to fighting cancer with hope and
humor. They offer free online support to
other survivors and caregivers through
their website TheCancerCrusade.com.